Cuts and Bruises
by OursIsTheFury2020
Summary: Summary inside: the authors note. What was up with Jesse's cut lip in the scene where Beca tries to apologise. My take on how I think he got it
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Because I'm obsessed and totally insane and have watched Pitch Perfect so many times that I notice pointless shit like this, I have decided to write this idea that's been buzzing around in my head. Okay so keep in mind I'm legit crazy, has anyone else noticed in the scene where Beca goes to Jesse' dorm to apologise that it looks like Jesse has a cut on his bottom lip? This could possibly be from some sort of fight, or at least that's what my insane brain came up with, I hunted down every other scene to check if maybe Skylar Astin simply had the cut on his lip during filming, and since they never film the scenes in order, I have looked at all the scenes in the movie with him and the only other scene where the cut has maybe shown up is when Jesse gets Beca from the police station, there aren't any close ups of him in that scene though so I couldn't really make anything out, but just thought I'd open you guys' eyes to the fact his lip is cut in the 'shut-door-in-Beca's-face' scene but not when he's at home with his family or when they have the awkward five word conversation before the Treblemakers go on stage and it's not seen again. Xx**

Jesse had just got back to Barden after Spring Break and had just enough time to say hello to Benji and unpack his stuff before there was a knock on the door. Jesse motioned for Benji to let him get it and pulled the door open sharply, Donald, Unicycle and Kolio were standing on the other side smiling.

'Jesse, my man, hate to do this to you, especially since you just got back but Bumper has demanded a Treble meeting like right now at the house. Hey Benji.' Donald said kindly, he didn't look very enthusiastic about the meeting and had guilt about the fact Benji couldn't come.

'Oh, right now? It's a bit early to be preparing for Finals.' Jesse said sitting on his bed, pulling his shoes and jacket back on.

'Hey Benji, why don't you come with us, since you're doing the staging and lights now, you'll need to see us practice, plus you make a great critic.' Donald said happily thinking of the idea. Benji smiled and jumped up before racing out the door excitedly with Kolio and Unicycle following him quickly, making sure they stayed with him in case Bumper tried to attack him or something.

'Thanks man, I really hate that he isn't the group, he wanted it so much and he can actually sing, Bumpers just…' Jesse said closing their door, walking slowly with Donald who nodded.

'Bumpers just Bumper. He's a jerk but he's a jerk who helps us win competitions.' Donald said, agreeing with Jesse.

'He wouldn't stand a chance against anything Beca came up with if Aubrey actually gave her a chance.' Jesse said smiling.

'How's all that going by the way? Have you spoken to her?' Donald asked and Jesse shook his head.

'I can't keep putting myself out there when she isn't going to let anyone in, maybe if she just figured out that I'm not gonna leave her then she might feel a bit safer and actually open up to me but I've made my feelings very clear, she either doesn't like me like that or she does and is just afraid, the next move is hers.' Jesse answered slowly, Donald nodded thoughtfully.

'I've met Beca and from what Lily told me she is extremely guarded, she hasn't even let the Bellas in fully yet. I get that you're sick of the constant rejections but giving up and stopping trying isn't the best move, just think about it.' Donald input, Jesse nodded, he totally got what Donald was saying but actually doing that was really hard.

'Yeah I know but I'm just totally sick of nice guy's finishing last, look at Benji, he has hardly any friends, he didn't get on the Trebles and people insult him behind his back but he is the nicest guy I've ever met, there was this nasty cheerleader in his class, she made narky comments about his love of Star Wars every single lesson and then they had this huge exam and she forgot a pencil, the teacher told her she had to find someone to lend her one because he wouldn't and she couldn't leave, no one had a pencil but Benji, he got up, walked across the room and sat the pencil on her desk without a single word then went and sat back down, the next day she called him a nerd who needed to be lifted back up to the mother ship. He practically saved her grade and that's what he gets. Bumper is the biggest jackass ever and yet he's getting deals every which way, singing back up for the rich and famous, shoes, sandals and he keep winning the a-ca-pella competitions. I mean don't get me wrong, I love winning and wouldn't just forfeit and Aubrey may be a bossy witch sometimes but the Bellas do have talent it just needs to be used right. And the whole no clapping for the competition thing is ridiculous, we should be able to appreciate other people's talent and enjoy it because a lot of the a-ca-pella groups do have talent, just because they don't always get a trophy doesn't mean they aren't winners.' Jesse said releasing a breath, he was in a really bad mood and Bumper seemed to be the target of his mood.

'Dude I couldn't agree with you more but just because nice guys finish last doesn't mean you should transfer to the dark side. Like you said, not all winners get a trophy.' Donald said shrugging.

'I don't want a trophy. I want Beca and it just pisses me off even more that she gets all girly around Luke, another asshole that keeps winning. Life Sucks!' Jesse huffed.

'Amen to that.' Donald agreed as the two approached the Trebles, they were on the grass outside the House, some doing dancers, others working on their pitch, Benji was sitting off to the side smiling happily.

Bumper had decided they should do a jam session and put Jesse on lead of 'misery' by Maroon 5. They were well into the song when the Bellas approached.

'If that's what you have planned for Finals, then you're slipping.' Amy said folding her arms.

'As oppose to you who just sing the same mash-up of songs over and over, yeah I think we're going to be just fine, the only one of you who had any originality was that punk chick that vomit girl here threw out. Tell me Aubrey was it jealousy or have you just gone completely insane.' Bumper said nastily, Aubrey huffed and looked away.

'You don't know anything, and Beca chose to leave.' Chloe said trying to defend both her friends.

'All I know is that she was your best shot at winning, even if she was a Goth skank.' Bumper said laughing. Jesse clenched his fists. 'I mean the girl was such a tease, but damn if she had offered I definitely would have had a taste of that pu-' Jesse slammed his fist into Bumper's face, and let out an angry breath, Bumper moved back quickly and slapped Jesse across the mouth, hard.

'What the hell dude? The chick screwed you over and you're hitting me? You shouldn't sweat it, the slut's probably already moved on to banging some other dude in a rundown motel 6. Be grateful she rejected your ass because you wouldn't want to get anywhere near hers, you'd have no idea where it's been-' Bumper continued laughing, Jesse hit him in the face with more rage than he had ever felt and when Bumper went down he didn't come back up. The Trebles and Bellas looked down at the unconscious Bumper then up at a seething Jesse, who turned towards the Trebles.

'When he wakes up, make sure you tell him that if I hear one more word about Beca leave his mouth I'm going to fuck up his face more than it already is.' Jesse practically growled out then stormed off towards his dorm, not wanting to talk to anyone, he wiped his lip against his sleeve; he knew Bumper had cut him with one of his nails during the slap, apart from it being the least manly thing to do it was actually kind of painful. Jesse couldn't believe he had just knocked someone unconscious. He prided himself on being a calm, not angry person but hearing Bumper insult Beca just made something inside him go red, that and the images of Beca being with another guy (Luke) made Jesse desperately want to hit something, Bumper's face was just the closest thing to him at the time.

_**So what do you think? Should I continue? Am I crazy and obsessed? Wait, don't answer that last one.**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**AN: Sorry it took so long guys, I had no internet access. More Jeca moments coming up so don't worry. Should I continue with Jesse's POV or move onto Beca's? XX**_

Jesse couldn't believe it. Beca actually thought he was made because she yelled at him. Yeah that kind of sucked and was totally humiliating but that was so not why he was angry, he was angry because he had kept putting his heart on the line, making his feelings very much known and she still closed him off, also he was kind of annoyed that he couldn't open his mouth fully to practice because of the cut on his lip, a cut which he'd got defending her. Don't get him wrong he'd do it all over again, there was no way he was letting a tool like Bumper insult his gir- Beca, insult Beca, but it still really sucked how much his mouth hurt.

There was absolutely no way Jesse could keep doing this, he put everything out there and she didn't even try! Well maybe she did, but Beca's version of trying wasn't nearly as noticeable as Jesse's. Giving up would have been so easy and he was telling the truth to her, he was done; he was done with trying to win over a girl who didn't even care, wasn't he? The more Jesse thought about it, the more he realised he was never going to be done with her, even thinking about her now was bringing a smile to his face. God, what the hell was wrong with him?

'Hey Jesse?' Benji asked form his sword box.

'Yeah Benji?' Jesse asked, looking up from the movie he wasn't even watching, to look at his roommate.

'I know it seems sometimes like she doesn't care or she just brushes things off but she does care about you.' Benji said smiling softly.

'What makes you say that Benj?' Jesse asked closing his laptop.

'Well she came by here a few times over the break, she was looking for the first time but even after I told her you weren't here she still came back.' Benji said stepping out of his box.

_Benji looked up to the sound of knocking; he wondered who'd be coming to see him. He only lived twenty minutes from Barden and his parents worked a lot so he decided it would probably be better to just stay in the dorms, also if his tricks that involved fire got out of hand, his parents wouldn't yell at him, the dean however was another story. He pulled the door open the best he could, he was sort of twisted up in a strait jacket at the moment but he thought he was doing pretty well._

'_Oh, Beca, hi. What are you doing here?' Benji asked, shocked at the appearance of the girl in front of him, he hadn't expected to see her ever again after she yelled at his roommate at the semi-finals._

'_Hi, is Jesse still here?' Beca asked looking around the boy in the doorway._

'_No, he left for home yesterday, why?' Benji asked tilting his head; he wasn't really sure why she was here._

'_Oh, well I guess I'll just talk to him when he gets back or call him or something.' Beca said softly, turning away but throwing a glance backwards. 'Do you want some help Benji?' Beca asked pointing to the jacket the boy was currently wearing._

'_It's okay Beca, but thanks for offering, most people would just call me weird and push me over of something, you and Jesse are the only ones who actually like my magic.' Benji said softly, Beca smiled at him._

'_If you need any help just text me, and Benji, if anyone ever insults your magic again just let me know and I'll deal with them.' She said laughing lightly._

'_Yeah, Jesse said your scary ear spike was pretty mincing, I guess he was right.' Benji answered making Beca laughing but noticing her eyes go a bit sadder at the mention of Jesse. She gave him a small wave before walking off down the hall, Benji waved back before closing the door with his shoulder._

_Benji was walking back to his dorm after a visit with her parents, they weren't impressed with his new tricked, it wasn't his fault the dove got away from his and starting doing its business on his mums vintage lounge cushions, really it wasn't, he could have sworn the pet store guy said it was house trained. Surely he can't be blamed for shoddy salesmanship. _

_As he reached his room he noticed the door slightly ajar, he grabbed his lightsaber from his pants pocket and nudged the door open slowly. He looked around the room; nothing seemed to be out of place, until he noticed the girl sleeping in Jesse's bed._

'_Beca?' Benji asked in shock, he slapped his hand over his mouth hoping he hadn't woken her but it was too late, she sat and rubbed her eyes._

'_Hey Benji, why do you have a lightsaber in your hands?' Beca asked eyeing the device curiously._

'_Why are you in Jesse's bed?' Benji asked quickly._

'_Oh, right, sorry. I came by last night to see if I could borrow some of Jesse's movies to take to my dad's tonight and your door was unlocked, I only came in because I thought you might have been passed out in your sword box and decided I might as well wait for you and then I eventually pulled my laptop out and started watching a movie then I guess I fell asleep.' Beca answered, swinging her legs over the side of the bed._

'_Yeah, I was at my parents.' He looked at the girl in front of him sadly; she clearly missed his best friend. 'You know what, I'll help you cart Jesse's movies to your room, but if he asks I had nothing to do with it and know nothing about it, someone must have snuck into our room to steal his collection.' Benji said pulling a bag out from under his bed and dragged it over to Jesse's movie shelf._

'_How about, since he's already forced me to watch the first rom we take all the ones behind it, then put it back neatly, he won't noticed the back rows missing until he either goes searching for one, pulls one from the front out or reorganises the collection, again.' Beca said laughing lightly kneeling down next to Benji to start on the DVD's._

'So it might seem like she doesn't car but she does, in her own Beca way. When I asked her why she wanted the movies she said she wanted to know what it was that you loved about them.' Benji said patting his friend on the back. Jesse nodded softly, with a small smile on his face before he froze and jumped up to check his collection.

'Wait, does that mean she still has my movies?' Jesse yelled, pulling a pile from the front row out, noticing the space behind it completely empty. He hadn't noticed before because he'd been watching a new movie he's brought from home.

'Maybe.' Benji said slyly while slipping out of the room.

'Benji!' Jesse yelled running out of the room after his soon-to-be-dead roommate.


	3. Chapter 3

_**AN: Okay so last chapter, but I promise it won't be the last you hear of me, this story was never meant to be long because I didn't want to make and AU, but don't fret I will try my hand at doing that, whether it gets posted or not is another story but anyway, enjoy Flat Butts… xx**_

Rehearsals had been non-stop, Donald had taken over after Bumper walked out on them and to be honest things were going pretty good, Donald actually made some pretty good remixes, something which Bumper never tried. Jesse had been meaning to go see Beca, maybe try and sort things out with her and you know, get his movie collection back! Benji was still pouting from all the figurines Jesse's holding ransom.

'Okay guys that was great, take a break and then we'll run through it again.' Donald said before sitting down next to Jesse taking a huge gulp from a bottle of water.

'You're doing a good job Donald, seriously this mix is awesome.' Jesse said picking up on the other boys' nerves.

'Yeah it is but I get the feeling we're not gonna win.' Donald said smirking.

'Why would you say that.' Jesse asked, scrunching his face together, he had never heard Donald have such a defeatist attitude, while smiling.

'A little birdy whispered to me that Aubrey finally let go of the reins and let Beca use her suggestions for their number, now I've never personally heard any of her mixes, but from the way you go on and on about them, I get the feeling they're pretty good.' Donald said smiling at his friend, Jesse looked down and tried to keep the smile off his face (key word trying).

'You're right, they've got it in the bag.' Jesse said nodding, he knew there was no way they could compete with Beca, he heard her stuff, and she was amazing.

'So have you spoken to her since you slammed the door in her face?' Donald asked, taking another drink of water before handing the bottle to Jesse.

'No, I keep wanting to storm into the Bella's rehearsal and just have it out but then I, don't. I miss her, you know, and not just because I'm head over feet for her but because apart from you guys she's my best friend here. Even when I was shamelessly flirting with her she was still my best friend, she tried so hard not to laugh at my jokes, which made it all the more rewarding when she did, she'd call me on my bullshit and damn did she throw out some insults. And we'd have these moments where we'd act like the biggest pair of idiots, like when we were stacking CD's this one time and we made this game where we would have to use the titles of bands and songs in a sentence, you should have heard what she made from the Sex Pistols! I love that she knows nothing about movies yet every time I quoted one she knew I was being the world's biggest movie geek and would make sure I knew it too. I love when things got really quiet you could hear her singing quietly to the music playing in her headphones and she didn't even realise she was doing it, and if she'd realised you'd caught her she'd blush slightly before turning away so that she didn't have to face the embarrassment of the fact she'd totally just been caught singing Justin Beiber. I love the fact no matter how much she says she hates Maroon 5 she has a playlist dedicated to them called 'Music I Hate But For Some Reason Listen To'. But no matter how much I care about her or how many things I love about her, things are just really awkward right now, even that numbskull that calls himself a station manager has picked up on it.' Jesse finished, the other Trebles had been eavesdropping and they were all rooting for Jesse to get the girl, Donald looked at him thoughtfully.

'What would it take for you to forgive her or at least for things to not be awkward?' He asked softly, yeah okay so maybe he was a little too invested in this relationship but after Bumper made many Tweets about it, the entire a-capella community was interested, he wasn't the only one, so there.

'I just want her to show me that she cares, just a little bit, anything will work, I just want to know that she cares about me, even if it's just as a friend, that would be a totally downer but I could accept it.' Jesse said softly.

'She likes you as more than a friend dude.' Donald said standing up ready to start rehearsing again.

'What makes you say that?' Jesse asked following his friend.

'Because no girl who likes you for anything less than some serious epic romance would take the time to help you drink your endless supply of juice pouches, seriously do you buy them in bulk, or listen to your endless monologue about how the Breakfast Club changed the world.' Donald said shrugging, waiting for Jesse to realise what he had just said.

'Hey! I'll have you know the Breakfast Club did change the world…' Jesse started.

'Here we go, thanks a lot Donald, we only just got him to stop.' Kolio said while Unicycle groaned and beat his head against the floor.

'Do you have any idea how many times I've heard this speech, he mutters it in his sleep!' Benji said hitting his head against the wall while Jesse still ranted and Donald just looked around while chuckling, oh yeah, Beca had to definitely be into Jesse for like the whole nine yards to have been bothered to willing listen to this, there was no doubt in his mind about that.

Jesse was ready to walk out, seriously he was, there was no way he could watch her up on that stage or listen to her voice sing out through the whole room but then he heard it. He knew those notes and those lyrics, no way, there was no way she was singing this right now! There was no way she was singing this to him right now! But she was, she was looking right at him, asking if he'd call her name or walk right on by, and when he saw Donald smile knowingly at him and Benji nod his head to the beat and another Treble call out 'Go Jesse', he knew he was never letting this girl go, he would do everything in his power to have her forever, and at that precise moment that meant raising his fist into the air and smiling at the fact he'd finally found his 'Claire', well sort of, he doubted Beca would ever skip to go shopping, maybe she could put her lipstick on with her- whoa, not even thinking about that at the moment. She was really using this song, his song, their song. This was happening, an epic, romantic gesture, oh he was so going to have to start planning one for her that he knew she'd pretend to hate but secretly love.

While Jesse's thoughts were going crazy, suddenly it was over and he and the Trebles were some of the first ones out of their seats because, damn, if that wasn't the single most amazing thing he'd ever heard(not including the BC Soundtrack). And when she came down the stairs and directly towards him the only thing he could think to say was 'I told you endings are the best part' and then she called him a weirdo before totally making out with him in front of a very large crowd, and their friends, his parents, probably her dad and he was shocked but happy, he couldn't stop smiling and neither could she.

So yeah it was totally worth the wait and yeah maybe they still had some things they needed to discuss (like how many times they were going to break Luke's golden rule) and maybe this girl was still guarded and maybe he ranted about the Breakfast Club too much but right, right now he was finally kissing this girl and she initiated it and his lip had finally healed as well as that massive bruise to his ego and all their friends were cheering and so watching them(little creepy) and he had her and it's the single most greatest moment of his life (including the first time he saw the Breakfast Club), hands down the greatest.

_**And I'm done. About the reference I made to another Treble calling out 'Go Jesse', it happened, seriously, as he's raising his fist, listen for it cause someone totally calls that out. So that's me for now but don't worry a-ca-bitches, I'll be back. We Out.**_


End file.
